Here is an introduction to modern logic that differs from others by treating logic from an algebraic perspective. What this means is that notions and results from logic become much easier to understand when seen from a familiar standpoint of algebra. The presentation, written in the engaging and provocative style that is the hallmark of Paul Halmos, from whose course the book is taken, is aimed at a broad audience, students, teachers and amateurs in mathematics, philosophy, computer science, linguistics and engineering; they all have to get to grips with logic at some stage. All that is needed.

Here is an introduction to modern logic that differs from others by treating logic from an algebraic perspective. What this means is that notions and results from logic become much easier to understand when seen from a familiar standpoint of algebra. The presentation, written in the engaging and provocative style that is the hallmark of Paul Halmos, from whose course the book is taken, is aimed at a broad audience, students, teachers and amateurs in mathematics, philosophy, computer science, linguistics and engineering; they all have to get to grips with logic at some stage. All that is needed to understand the book is some basic acquaintance with algebra.

Fascinating study of the origin and nature of mathematical thought, including relation of mathematics and science, 20th-century developments, impact of computers, and more.Includes 34 illustrations. 1968 edition."

Beginning with an introduction to the concepts of algebraic logic, this concise volume features ten articles by a prominent mathematician that originally appeared in journals from 1954 to 1959. Covering monadic and polyadic algebras, these articles are essentially self-contained and accessible to a general mathematical audience, requiring no specialized knowledge of algebra or logic. Part One addresses monadic algebras, with articles on general theory, representation, and freedom. Part Two explores polyadic algebras, progressing from general theory and terms to equality. Part Three offers three items on polyadic Boolean algebras, including a survey of predicates, terms, operations, and equality. The book concludes with an additional bibliography and index.

This book is intended for mathematicians. Its origins lie in a course of lectures given by an algebraist to a class which had just completed a substantial course on abstract algebra. Consequently, our treatment of the subject is algebraic. Although we assume a reasonable level of sophistication in algebra, the text requires little more than the basic notions of group, ring, module, etc. A more detailed knowledge of algebra is required for some of the exercises. We also assume a familiarity with the main ideas of set theory, including cardinal numbers and Zorn's Lemma. In this book, we carry out a mathematical study of the logic used in mathematics. We do this by constructing a mathematical model of logic and applying mathematics to analyse the properties of the model. We therefore regard all our existing knowledge of mathematics as being applicable to the analysis of the model, and in particular we accept set theory as part of the meta-Ianguage. We are not attempting to construct a foundation on which all mathematics is to be based--rather, any conclusions to be drawn about the foundations of mathematics come only by analogy with the model, and are to be regarded in much the same way as the conclusions drawn from any scientific theory.

The popular literature on mathematical logic is rather extensive and written for the most varied categories of readers. College students or adults who read it in their free time may find here a vast number of thought-provoking logical problems. The reader who wishes to enrich his mathematical background in the hope that this will help him in his everyday life can discover detailed descriptions of practical (and quite often -- not so practical!) applications of logic. The large number of popular books on logic has given rise to the hope that by applying mathematical logic, students will finally learn how to distinguish between necessary and sufficient conditions and other points of logic in the college course in mathematics. But the habit of teachers of mathematical analysis, for example, to stick to problems dealing with sequences without limit, uniformly continuous functions, etc. has, unfortunately, led to the writing of textbooks that present prescriptions for the mechanical construction of definitions of negative concepts which seem to obviate the need for any thinking on the reader's part. We are most certainly not able to enumerate everything the reader may draw out of existing books on mathematical logic, however.

Orignally published: Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: Prentice-Hall, 1962.